DME / Immobilizer Problem

[Richard Hamilton]

Does the fuel pump run? If it does not, that would be a sign that the immobiliser is active. The immobiliser inhibits cranking, ignition, and the fuel pump.

Lost with that did you mean that if the fuel pump works then the immo is working?

As Logray says.

I think there is some confusion when you say "the immobiliser is working". When I say the immobiliser is active, I mean that the car is immobilised. In this case, the fuel pump won't run, the engine won't crank, and the ignition won't spark.

Therefore, if your fuel pump doesn't run, the immobiliser may be active.

[Mother]

Does the fuel pump run? If it does not, that would be a sign that the immobiliser is active. The immobiliser inhibits cranking, ignition, and the fuel pump.

Lost with that did you mean that if the fuel pump works then the immo is working?

As Logray says.

I think there is some confusion when you say "the immobiliser is working". When I say the immobiliser is active, I mean that the car is immobilised. In this case, the fuel pump won't run, the engine won't crank, and the ignition won't spark.

Therefore, if your fuel pump doesn't run, the immobiliser may be active.

Thanks for clarification, I just wanted to know if I was getting power to the IMMO (beep sound when locking) and if that was the case then since the car ran before this happened I can assume that it still is doing what it needs to do and rule it out as a problem. If I am right here that the key talks to the IMMO then IMMO compares notes with the DME then checks system modules and allows car to crank?

Edited July 19, 2011 by Mother

[Mother]

I spoke with FVD today and I uploaded the new original DME file (via Internet) in there now and waiting to here back tomorrow.

Edited July 19, 2011 by Mother

[Mother]

Took the car into Posrche and they said it was the Alarm box. Is it possible to get a another used alarm box (with different Vin) and install then program to match the key and the DME Vin #'s?

Edited August 1, 2011 by Mother

[Richard Hamilton]

Took the car into Posrche and they said it was the Alarm box. Is it possible to get a another used alarm box (with different Vin) and install then program to match the key and the DME Vin #'s?

The alarm control unit can only be programmed with an immobilser code once. It cannot be changed with a Porsche tester. The DME could be reprogrammed with the immobiliser code from the donor car. However, you may have a problem programming your original keys to the donor alarm module.

Best bet would be to bite the bullet, and get a new alarm module. They should be able to read out the key data from the old unit, and program it into the new one.

[Mother]

Thanks Richard for qwik response I was so mad to here about the car I went to the dentist to have a tooth pulled .... now the car does not stress me out so much. I think you are right they would have to make everything match ..Vin wise. When I reinstalled the SC and before I flashed the DME problem everything was working properly.

Edited August 1, 2011 by Mother

[Mother]

They installed new immobilizer and they said they still can not talk to the DME? At present they are trying different DME Vin#'s that I gave them. Should I have to pay for alarm box since it did not fix problem? Just upset! What are my options?

Edited August 3, 2011 by Mother

[Richard Hamilton]

I don't see how they could possibly charge you if it didn't fix the problem.

Can they connect to the DME with the PIWIS? Reason I ask is that someone I know had a similar problem with a 996 a couple of months ago. We tracked it down to a bad connection on the K-line which connects the alarm module to the DME. There is a plug and socket in the left hand rear footwell (RHD car), and one of the pins wasn't making a proper connection in the socket. We could read the alarm module with the PIWIS, but not the DME. It uses this connection for the immobiliser.

[Mother]

Don't know I will ask...They tried the other Vin I gave them and No-Go, the thing that gets me is that before sending car to them I WAS able to with Durametric read out my Vin details etc of the DME and even flashed a modded file to it using the FVD software? Any other questions I should ask prior to calling.

Edited August 3, 2011 by Mother

[Mother]

Richard now that I think about it ...your question "Can they connect to the DME with the PIWIS?", I would think if they can reprogram the vin's into the DME then would be connecting to it?

Edited August 3, 2011 by Mother

[Richard Hamilton]

Sorry. I misunderstood your post (#32) when you said they still can not talk to the DME. Ignore what I said.

[logray]

The VIN, etc. doesn't matter much in the DME programming.

When futzing around with this stuff I could change the country code, vin, color codes ,etc to whatever I wanted and none of that would affect whether the car would start or not.

The important things that matter are: the map, the version of DME for the car, and that the immo and dme codes match what is in the immobilizer.

Sorry if you've tried this before, but did you attempt to use a different DME?

[Mother]

No I have not tried a different DME however being that it is at a dealer they would have a way to download/read the Code from the IMMO to verify that it is matching the DME. When I hooked up my Durametric to test I did not get any error codes of there being a mismatch using the Vin/Codes that I gave them. I wished they had a spare DME to test with to verify that it is not a bricked DME at least this would point in some direction and verification rather then just replacing parts. I suppose worst case is I can get a used DME and have them redo with my vin/codes.

[Richard Hamilton]

No I have not tried a different DME however being that it is at a dealer they would have a way to download/read the Code from the IMMO to verify that it is matching the DME. When I hooked up my Durametric to test I did not get any error codes of there being a mismatch using the Vin/Codes that I gave them. I wished they had a spare DME to test with to verify that it is not a bricked DME at least this would point in some direction and verification rather then just replacing parts. I suppose worst case is I can get a used DME and have them redo with my vin/codes.

The snag with that is that you would need the IPAS programming codes (or at least the VIN and a friendly dealer) of the donor car in order to be able to reprogram it with the immobiliser code and fuel map using a PIWIS tester.

If the dealer can access both the immobiliser and DME, and have entered the immo code in the immobiliser, then they should be able to enter the same code into the DME. I'm very surprised they can't figure it out, i.e. why the DME isn't communicating with the immobiliser.

[Mother]

Well it's up and running :clapping:.. the problem was since porsche orginally programmed the dme and immo with the vins they lost the info/codes and they can not download from immo to verify the numbers I gave them originally which did not work. Even with the new immo the original dme could not connect to program so off to the salvage yard for a dme brought it to them and they where able to program it with the original vin of my car in the immo to match the dme I gave them and vaaaroooom. Moral of story always keep original vins of the immo it's the most important. I would like to thank everyone for your input on this matter and now it's on to bricking my new setup. :clapping:

Edited August 5, 2011 by Mother

[logray]

Right on. Great news!!!! Enjoy the SC! :thumbup:

[Mother]

Thanks, I had one more question is that in Porsche training they say that the DME can only be programmed 5 times before locking itself out? Any truth to this.?

Edited August 5, 2011 by Mother

[logray]

Never heard of this... other modules perhaps.

[Mother]

I will ask FVD tuning as it would take the fun out of programming,

[Mother]

I assume this is due to PIWIS

Reply FVD

if you increase the flashcounter which is being triggered when flashing with the Piwis (Porsche Factory tester) it is correct that the DME locks you out after 3 or 5 flash sessions.

Edited August 5, 2011 by Mother

[logray]

This sounds like a temporary condition to me, perhaps if you reset the flashcounter or restart the entire process the counter goes away. Just a guess because I've flashed one of my DME's about 4 times with both Softronic and PST2.

There is a limit to the number of times you can flash NVRAM, but it's probably in the 1000's or 10,000's of times before the memory becomes unreliable. I understand this is especially true with the early 5.2.2 DMEs (in fact the original 5.2.2 P/N would go bad after the first flash).

Just some thoughts.

[Mother]

I was told by the FVD programmers that I need x51 software in the ECU/DME but never got a reason why? Why would I need this I never needed it in the past to program my car?

Edited August 11, 2011 by Mother

[Mother]

I was told by the FVD programmers that I need x51 software in the ECU/DME but never got a reason why? Why would I need this I never needed it in the past to program my car?

Never mind found answer.